If you’re looking for a tropical stunner that closely approximates a pinnate palm, but tolerates the heat and cold of Southern California, look no further. The Ribbon fan palm, native to the coast of Queensland, Australia, occupies a class all its own, with a peculiar morphology that looks more feather than fan palm.
The L. decipiens thrives in the Southern California climate, from the coast to the hot inland valleys (though the extreme heat of the desert may prove much for this palm) and is easily the fastest grower in our collection, adding at least 24 inches every year. Standing below this tree, one cannot help but admire the unique look formed by its leaf bases – which shed quite easily – exposing a shiny reddish-brown, obliquely ringed trunk. 10 to 12 foot-long leaf stalks, or petioles, protrude from the trunk like the thin spokes of a wheel allowing ample light to shine through and forming a ringed crown of lush, dense drooping leaflets. The leaf segments of the Ribbon fan palm are divided almost completely to the costa and stream down from a third to half way in the summer heat, with a beautiful, pendulous form. The look is very tropical and lush – similar that of the much less drought and heat tolerant pinnate palms.
A few examples of this palm can be found in Balboa Park, San Diego, just south of the Botanical Building along the reflecting pool path on the west side of the Casa del Prado building. There are also three much older Livistonia palms on the north east side of the road behind the Botanical Building. I am told these once had a placard identifying them as Livisonia decipiens. But that placard is gone, and while the leaf form is that of the L. decipiens, this variety has significantly shorter petioles and a smaller diameter crown.
